REPORT INFORMATION ON THE INSPECTION ON THE QUALITY OF LEARNING AND TEACHING IN FRENCH

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1 An Roinn Oideachais agus Scileanna Department of Education and Skills Subject Inspection of French REPORT Santa Sabina Dominican College Sutton, Dublin 13 Roll number: 60380C Date of inspection: 2 October 2014

2 REPORT ON THE QUALITY OF LEARNING AND TEACHING IN FRENCH INFORMATION ON THE INSPECTION Date of inspection 2 October 2014 Inspection activities undertaken Review of relevant documents Discussion with principal and teachers Interaction with students Observation of teaching and learning during five class periods Examination of students work Feedback to principal and teachers MAIN FINDINGS The teaching observed was competent in the majority of lessons with some instances of excellent practice and some instances requiring considerable improvement. Students were receptive to learning and engaged actively and confidently when given appropriate opportunities. The target language was used consistently by the teachers in most of the lessons observed. A range of methodologies was observed, many of which promoted good student engagement. There is good whole-school provision and support for the teaching and learning of French. MAIN RECOMMENDATIONS Greater opportunities for active engagement and authentic oral communication should be afforded to all students. Teachers should focus on integrating assessment for learning (AfL) strategies into subject planning for improvement, their teaching methodologies and assessment practices. 2

3 INTRODUCTION Santa Sabina Dominican College is a voluntary secondary school with 658 female students serving the community of Sutton and the surrounding area. It offers Junior and Leaving Certificate, Transition Year (TY) and the Leaving Certificate Vocational programme. The study of a modern European language is obligatory for all students. TEACHING AND LEARNING The quality of teaching and learning observed was good in the majority of the lessons observed, with excellent practice noted in one lesson. There was one lesson however, where the absence of an instructional phase and the presentation of new material limited learning for students. French was used as the language of instruction in most lessons. In one of these lessons, the very good practice of both teacher and students using French in an authentic manner was evident throughout the lesson. There was one lesson, however, where French was used to a very limited extent by the teacher. All teachers should maximise the use of the target language by giving all classroom instructions in French, looking at alternative strategies to translation where support is needed and by giving students the key expressions necessary for student interaction in French. Greater opportunities should also be afforded to students to put new vocabulary and expressions into practice. The proposed lesson content was communicated to the students in most lessons. In one instance, it was shared as a learning outcome. It is recommended that this very good practice be extended to all lessons and communicated in terms of what the students should know or be able to do by the end of the lesson. This practice would support good lesson structure and time management as well conferring greater responsibility onto students for their learning. The learning outcomes should also be revisited at the end of the lesson to assess student learning. In one lesson, a self-assessment exercise was used for this purpose, which is good practice as it can be verified at a later stage. Question-and-answer sessions were used in most lessons to engage students and to check comprehension. In some instances, the same students put their hands up and answered the questions, facilitating others to disengage. Teachers should adopt some of the assessment for learning (AfL) strategies to ensure full student participation. A better balance between global and directed questions and knowledge and opinion questions is also recommended to support the varied needs and abilities of the students. Information and communication technologies (ICT) were used in most lessons to support learning. In one lesson, a PowerPoint presentation made by students from the school served to better engage the students and enhance their learning. In another lesson, a film extract was very well exploited through the use of both preparatory and follow-through activities. This very good practice should be extended to all lessons. Show-me boards were used effectively in one lesson to support the work in hand. Pair work was observed in most lessons and students engaged well with the assigned tasks. Learning was most effective where students had a clear need to interact. Pair or group work tasks assigned for the purpose of oral skills development should be devised to necessitate oral interaction. Students should also be encouraged to report back on their partners answers as this both extends their grammar skills and ensures that the work is carried out. 3

4 Aural skills development was promoted in some lessons through the use of listening texts. This is good practice in supporting an integrated approach to language skills. It is recommended that teachers consider broadening the scope of these listening activities beyond the traditional information retrieval test to using them as a stimulus for oral, written or grammar skills development. Listening texts could also serve to incorporate aspects of cultural awareness. In one lesson, the focus was entirely on testing and no active teaching was observed. This limited the learning opportunities for students. It is essential that every lesson maintains an appropriate balance between teacher input and student learning. Where assessment is used, it should be carried out in a formative manner to support student progress. Homework was assigned in all of the lessons observed. While some of the corrections included helpful comments, the practice of formative feedback should be further developed. To maximise the benefits of formative feedback, students should be given the opportunity to build up their writing skills incrementally from first year through the use of regular exercises involving the manipulation of language. There were some students copy books where a number of exercises had been completed, but were not corrected. While it is acknowledged that some exercises can be corrected during the lesson, those involving the manipulation of language need to be taken up and corrected by the teacher. Students were well behaved and very receptive to learning. Learning was most effective in lessons where students had opportunities to ask questions and to interact authentically and spontaneously. These practices should be extended to all lessons in order to further challenge the students and to engage them more actively in their own learning. To encourage more active oral participation, it is recommended that an oral assessment be introduced for all students. SUBJECT PROVISION AND WHOLE SCHOOL SUPPORT There is good whole-school provision and support for French in the allocation of time, timetabling and the provision of resources. Classrooms are teacher-based and this is good practice. An excellent print-rich environment was observed in some classrooms, where the focus was on key expressions and grammar points, many of which supported revision for examinations. Samples of students work were also displayed and, in some instances, referenced during the lesson. This is also good practice. Teachers have accessed some of the in-service training available for teachers of French and this is commended. To further support their ongoing professional development, it is recommended that all teachers consider availing of the range of scholarships and courses provided by the Department and the French Cultural Services, the French Teachers Association, the Professional Development Service for Teachers and local education centres. Teachers should also consider etwinning for the purpose of promoting intercultural dialogue and the sharing of resources. 4

5 PLANNING AND PREPARATION Minutes of subject department meetings indicate that teachers have engaged in some discussion relating to teaching and learning. In order to progress subject department planning for improvement in the teaching and learning of languages, this good practice should be extended to include an active and ongoing review of student outcomes. Considerable work has been completed in developing schemes of work for each year group. However, they are strongly focused on the curriculum content contained in the textbooks currently in use. It is recommended that these schemes of work be reviewed, revised and tabulated under the following headings; topic, learning outcomes, methodologies, resources, and assessment. The main focus should be on skills development and transfer, documenting what teachers want each year group to have completed by the end of the academic year. The draft findings and recommendations arising out of this evaluation were discussed with the principal and subject teachers at the conclusion of the evaluation. The board of management of the school was given an opportunity to comment on the findings and recommendations of the report; the board chose to accept the report without response. Published May